What’s Hot & What’s Not

Are you wondering which social media trends are here to stay?

Do you question where you should be spending your time when it comes to social media for business?

There have been many social media trends that have come and gone over the years. It wasn’t long ago that MySpace was the indisputable champion in the social web with naysayers proudly touting, “there is no way this Facebook-thing is going to take off.”

Businesses that are using social media marketing to promote their products and services are constantly seeking an edge to put them closer to their target market. Understanding what is working and what isn’t is extremely important for an effective social media campaign.

In this article we took a look at some of social media trends that are currently booming and others whose fate is uncertain and seeming like it may be a bust.

Social Media Trends for 2013: Boom or Bust?

Visual Marketing: BOOM!

Infographics and visual marketing have seen a massive boom in the past year, especially with the proliferation of photo sharing giant Pinterest. Of all the social media trends on this list, I’m certain this one is bound to be hot for a while.

38% of marketers plan to increase their use of photo sharing sites such as Instagram.

LinkedIn 2013: BOOM!

This is one social network that has thrived on innovation in the last year, potentially being the only major site with high hopes for significant growth. New additions like LinkedIn Contacts are blowing the doors off business social networking and are guaranteed to take things to the next level.

Mobile Marketing: BOOM!

Let’s face it: Smartphone is the new phone these days and Google is sitting in everybody’s pocket. Are you optimized for mobile? If not, the stats should frighten you because there is a good chance your competitors are…and they might be doing pretty well with it. Yikes!

28% of Internet usage comes from a mobile phone. (Pew Research Center)

55+ Social Media Users: BOOM!

Although the highest usage on social media is between the ages of 12-34, the demographic with the highest rate of growth is the 55+ crowd. Whoever said seniors weren’t hip?

Podcasts: BOOM!

This area is ripe for opportunity as only 5% of marketers are involved with podcasting, making it one of the least saturated options among a plethora of overused social media trends.

24% of marketers plan to increase their podcasting activities in 2013, an almost five-fold increase from the previous year. (Social Media Examiner)

Foursquare & Geo-Tagging: BUST!

Personal safety concerns and a general lack of interest have prevented Foursquare from breaking past the threshold set by the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

This is actually one of the social media trends that was expected to take off a couple years ago but sadly, it just hasn’t.

16% of marketers plan to increase their use of geo-tagging services like Foursquare. This is down from 23% the previous year. (Social Media Examiner)

QR Codes: BUST!

Although there is still hope for this handy technology, it’s businesses consistently poor implementation that has ruined it.

Social Bookmarking: BUST!

The use of social bookmarking sites has plummeted from 26% of respondents in 2011 to just 10% in 2013. Although they have had a great reputation for driving website traffic, their usage seems to be dropping. It’s not a bad idea to keep doing it as it requires little effort, but pay attention to how much traffic you’re getting from it in your web analytics.

By Melonie Dodaro

Melonie Dodaro, founder of Top Dog Social Media helps business owners, entrepreneurs and professionals use social media marketing to boost their visibility, attract new customers and increase their revenue. Dubbed by the media as Canada’s #1 LinkedIn expert and social media strategist, she’s also a highly sought after social media speaker and trainer. To download your free report called Stop Wasting Time & Start Getting Results With Social Media visit TopDogSocialMedia.com.